FROM NEWSLETTER: THE STARTALKER, ISSUE 46

Issue 46, September 12, 2013

Breaking News: StarTalk Live at Town Hall NYC Exclusive Fan Pre-Sale Date Show: Monday, November 4, 2013, 8 PM ET Fan Presale: Friday, September 13, Noon, ET Public Sale: Tuesday, September 17, Noon ET   This Friday the 13th is your lucky day! Exclusive fan presale begins tomorrow at 12:00 Noon ET and runs until Tuesday, 9/17 at noon, when tickets go on sale for the general public. To get your tickets, click on the following link, which won't be live until noon tomorrow: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/03004B297C507B29 The code to purchase tickets for the presale is: COSMIC. See you all at Town Hall, NYC, on November 4th! Photo Credit: © 2013 Elliot Severn. All rights reserved.  This Week's New Podcast StarTalk Live at Town Hall with Buzz Aldrin (Part 1) September 15, 2013, 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT     For StarTalk’s first mission to Town Hall in NYC, Commander Neil deGrasse Tyson and Co-Pilot Eugene Mirman recruited a crack crew: astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, Andrew Chaikin, author of A Man on the Moon, and, in the spirit of international cooperation, a little known British comedian named John Oliver. The team explored why we went to the moon, what it was like once we got there, and why conspiracy theorists who say we never actually went are full of… dust. The most surprising discovery of the evening was that the guy who got the most laughs that night wasn’t Eugene or John, but Buzz Aldrin himself. Listen to Part 1 on our website Sunday, September 15 at 7:00pm ET and on iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher by 7:30pm ET.    Photo Credit: © 2013 Elliot Severn. All rights reserved.  Catch Up on Last Week's Podcast Cosmic Queries: The Sun and Other Stars September 8, 2013      The Sun is the star as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice answer fan questions in this solar edition of Cosmic Queries. Learn how a gas cloud condensed to form our Sun, and how we can keep it from expanding and burning out. Find out what Immanuel Kant’s Nebular Hypothesis is, what electron degeneracy pressure does, how neutron stars form, whether dust clouds around stars cause electrical storms, and if the Sun will die before we collide with the Andromeda galaxy. It’s filled with rogue stars, thermonuclear fusion, emotionally conflicted planets, pigeons and Mexican food. Listen now. Photo Credit: Credit: ESO / L. Calçada.   Best of the Blog Revisiting Our Special Episode about 9/11 Posted September 11, 2013      “…I lived three and a half blocks from what would later be known as Ground Zero. I was home that morning, and the entire series of events unfolded outside my dining room window… I don’t want to retell that now. What I’d rather try to do is measure the magnitude of the events of that morning…”  Twelve years ago, Neil deGrasse Tyson witnessed the events of 9/11 at close range. Two years ago, on the tenth anniversary, StarTalk Radio produced a special episode about that day, 9/11 Memorial. If you haven’t heard the episode yet, and with so many new fans that’s likely, I recommend you listen now... Read more. Have You Seen Our New "Behind the Scenes" Video? Neil deGrasse Tyson Explores the Vacuum of Space      Could you capture the vacuum of space and bring it back to Earth? What would happen? And if “nature abhors a vacuum,” why doesn’t Earth’s atmosphere go rushing out into space? Watch Neil deGrasse Tyson fill the informational void as he answers this Cosmic Query with Eugene Mirman, then rethinks and clarifies that answer. Watch now. Don't miss any of our StarTalk Radio videos on YouTube. Subscribe to the StarTalk Radio YouTube Channel.    Keep in touch Facebook Twitter YouTube Google + Pinterest Homepage  iTunes Shows (RSS) Blog (RSS) Subscribe to The StarTalker - click here!  Join Our Cosmic Community! If you represent an academic or scientific organization that would like to join our Cosmic Community, just click on the following link to complete and submit a short application form and we'll be in touch. Cosmic Community Sign-Up Become a StarTalk Satellite! Add the StarTalk Radio widget to your website or blog and let your friends listen to the show right from your site. Get the widget now. StarTalk Radio is now accepting corporate sponsors. If your company shares our mission and would like to support StarTalk Radio, please email: Laura Berland

The StarTalk Team StarTalkTeam@startalkradio.net www.startalkradio.net Hear us on iTunes Follow us on Twitter Find us on Facebook

NEWSLETTER: THE STARTALKER, ISSUE 43, AUGUST 15, 2013

Issue 43, August 15, 2013 This Week's New Podcast The Science of Sex (Part 1) August 18, 2013, 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT     This week, StarTalk Radio trades the cosmic for the orgasmic. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Kristen Shaal, author of The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex, tread not so lightly into taboo territory with guests Mary Roach, author of Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, famed sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and astrophysicist Charles Liu. But it’s still StarTalk, so Neil and guests focus on the science, not the lasciviousness, of sex. You’ll learn that females can have nocturnal erections just like men, what the other erectile tissue in the human body is (it’s not the nipples!), and why pharmaceutical research has moved beyond Viagra™ to developing pills for post-menopausal women with flagging sex drives. Listen on our website, this Sunday, August 18th at 7:00pm ET and on iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher by 7:30. (Note: Portions of this podcast appeared previously in a StarTalk Radio video on The Nerdist.) Catch Up on Last Week's Podcast Cosmic Queries: Viruses, Outbreaks and Pandemics August 11, 2013       Infectious disease expert Laurie Garrett is back to answer your questions about viruses. First, she describes two current outbreaks: H7N9 influenza, which killed 25% of its victims in China, and MERS-CoV, a genetic relative of SARS. With pilgrimages like the Haj in October, Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus is a serious pandemic concern to the worldwide health community. Next, Laurie explains how viruses like Ebola and HIV jump from bats and primates to humans through “zoonosis” and why they’re so lethal when they do. All this, plus a fungus that turns ants into zombies, pathogens that spread via rain, the dangers of the anti-vaccine movement and, unfortunately, so much more. Listen now. Photo Credit: MGVP/UC Davis. Best of the Blog New Survey: What’s Your Favorite Classic Television Sci-Fi Series? Posted August 12, 2013 Recently, Neil told us that The Twilight Zone and Star Trek The Original Series are his favorite science fiction TV series. Naturally, we started discussing what our favorites were, and that got us wondering, what are your favorite classic science fiction television series? So we put together this nifty survey to find out. We decided to let you pick your 3 favorite series, because narrowing it down to one or two was just too excruciatingly difficult. If you do take our survey, and you'd like to have us email you a digitally autographed photo of Neil deGrasse Tyson, be sure to fill in your first name and email address at the bottom of the survey form. Read more. Have You Seen Our Latest "Behind the Scenes" Video? Neil deGrasse Tyson on Alien Diseases A fan asks, “If we were to make contact with alien life, would it be possible for us to contract diseases from them, and could our immune systems adapt to them?” Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and infectious disease expert Laurie Garrett approach the answer differently, bringing up references as varied as Michael Crichton’s book, The Andromeda Strain, Dutch elm disease, Star Trek’s Tribbles, NASA’s quarantine of the Apollo moonwalkers, and the impact of Western European settlement on the indigenous life forms and Aboriginal peoples of Australia. Luckily, Chuck Nice is on hand to mediate and summarize. Watch now. Keep in touch Facebook Twitter YouTube Google + Pinterest Homepage  iTunes Shows (RSS) Blog (RSS) Subscribe to The StarTalker - click here!  Join Our Cosmic Community! If you represent an academic or scientific organization that would like to join our Cosmic Community, just click on the following link to complete and submit a short application form and we'll be in touch. Cosmic Community Sign-Up Become a StarTalk Satellite! Add the StarTalk Radio widget to your website or blog and let your friends listen to the show right from your site. Get the widget now. StarTalk Radio is now accepting corporate sponsors.If your company shares our mission and would like to support StarTalk Radio, please email: Laura Berland The StarTalk Team StarTalkTeam@startalkradio.net http://www.startalkradio.net/ Hear us on iTunes Follow us on Twitter Find us on Facebook

STARTALKER NEWSLETTER, ISSUE 42, AUGUST 8, 2013

Newsletter:

Issue 42, August 8, 2013 This Week's New Podcast Cosmic Queries: Viruses, Outbreaks and Pandemics  August 11, 2013, 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT   Infectious disease expert Laurie Garrett is back to answer your questions about viruses. First, she describes two current outbreaks: H7N9 influenza, which killed 25% of its victims in China, and MERS-CoV, a genetic relative of SARS. With pilgrimages like the Haj in October, Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus is a serious pandemic concern to the worldwide health community. Next, Laurie explains how viruses like Ebola and HIV jump from bats and primates to humans through “zoonosis” and why they’re so lethal when they do. All this, plus a fungus that turns ants into zombies, pathogens that spread via rain, the dangers of the anti-vaccine movement and, unfortunately, so much more. The show will be on our website and iTunes this Sunday, August 11th at 7:00pm ET, and on SoundCloud and Stitcher by 7:15pm ET. Photo Credit: MGVP/UC Davis. Catch Up on Last Week's Podcast Cosmic Queries: Dark Matter and Dark Energy August 4, 2013   If dark matter is the longest unsolved problem in astrophysics, how can Neil deGrasse Tyson answer your Cosmic Queries? Well, it turns out we do know something about the stuff that makes up 96% of our universe. For instance, how it affects the rotation of galaxies, and what would happen if it disappeared. And whether dark matter is increasing as the universe expands. You’ll find out if there are connections between black holes and dark matter and what Hawking Radiation is. Did the recent experiments on the ISS explain why dark matter doesn’t interact with ordinary matter? Plus, Neil tells comic co-host Leighann Lord why he thinks dark energy should be named Fred. One of our most popular shows this season...if you haven't heard it – Listen now. Photo Credit: Dark Matter Visualization courtesy of SDSC and NPACI Visualization Services. Best of the Blog The Perseids Are Back this Weekend! Posted August 7, 2013   Here’s a recipe for a bit of tasty cosmic cuisine this weekend: 1. Take a dash of stellar dust and debris from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. 2. Sprinkle into Earth’s atmosphere. 3. Lie back and watch the show. And if the weather cooperates and you’ve got clear skies – it’s looking good for the NY metro area, so I’m hopeful – then you’re in for one of the best meteor showers we get to see each year, The Perseids. At peak, there can be as many as 100 meteors burning across the sky per hour. But even if you just catch a few, they’re worth the effort. And, according to NASA, the Perseids have the most “fireballs” of any meteor shower. For more information and some great images - Read more. Have You Seen Our Latest "Behind the Scenes" Video? Nanobot Viruses and Biotechnology on StarTalk Radio Get a sneak peak of this week's new podcast in this "Behind the Scenes" video taken from the episode. In it, Laurie Garrett answers a fan's cosmic query about whether we can create “nanobot” viruses that we could use to fight disease, and if we do, how we can control them. She also tells Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice how we’re developing human engineered microorganisms in the lab, including a competition where high school students invent new life forms. Watch now. Don't miss any of our StarTalk Radio videos on YouTube. Subscribe to the StarTalk Radio YouTube Channel. Keep in touch Facebook Twitter YouTube Google + Pinterest Homepage  iTunes Shows (RSS) Blog (RSS) Subscribe to The StarTalker - click here!  Join Our Cosmic Community! If you represent an academic or scientific organization that would like to join our Cosmic Community, just click on the following link to complete and submit a short application form and we'll be in touch. Cosmic Community Sign-Up Become a StarTalk Satellite! Add the StarTalk Radio widget to your website or blog and let your friends listen to the show right from your site. Get the widget now. StarTalk Radio is now accepting corporate sponsors.If your company shares our mission and would like to support StarTalk Radio, please email: Laura Berland The StarTalk Team StarTalkTeam@startalkradio.net http://www.startalkradio.net/ Hear us on iTunes Follow us on Twitter Find us on Facebook